There's the Right Way...
Software developer Jon Lech Johansen, who built an Android app for his music synchronization company DoubleTwist, published a blog post June 27 in which he noted that Google does not provide proper care and feeding for the Android Market.
"Unlike Apple's App Store, the Android Market has few high quality apps," Johansen wrote, citing a study from Larva Labs that Apple has paid out 50 times more money to developers than Google has.
Johansen added: "While the Android Market is available in 46 countries, developers can only offer paid apps in 13 countries. In addition, the price for foreign apps is not displayed in the user's local currency and developers do not have the option of customizing pricing by country.
"To make matters worse, you can't pay for foreign apps using your Amex card or carrier billing. There's also no support for in-app payments and changelogs (to communicate app changes).”
Johansen's biggest complaint is that the channel is loaded with trademark and copyright infringement, noting that there are some 144 spam ringtone apps clearly infringing copyright) that are being monetized through Google ads.
Perhaps Apple had it right when they decided a ‘moderated’ approach was the best way to maintain a high-quality marketplace for applications. After all, the ‘wild west’ died out for a reason...